Men's basketball team ready to open the state tournament

The Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team will open the FCSAA State Tournament against the host Northwest Florida State College on Wednesday afternoon.

The Titans enter the tournament as the No. 6 seed after a 22-8 season that finished with a share of the Central Conference title. It marks the 10^th straight season that the men's basketball program has made the state tournament. The Titans have made it to the semifinals three straight years and were in the finals in 2019.

Northwest Florida State College is the No. 3 seed after winning a share of the Panhandle title, finishing the regular season 25-4 overall and were ranked 11th in the final NJCAA Division I poll.

"Coach Heiar has done an unbelievable job in his first year there, they are a top 10 team in the country and it will be a true road game for us," Shulman said. "We are excited. It's going to be two teams that can really guard the basketball. Our No. 1 goal was to be playing our best basketball at the end of the year and I feel like we are playing some of our best basketball." 

The two teams have not met since the 2018-19 season in which the teams split the two meetings. 

The game features two of the best defensive teams in the state as both are among the top four teams in the state in points allowed. The Titans lead the state in rebounding, grabbing an average of 30.1 rebounds per game this season.

Tournament passes can be purchased for $35 on nwfraiders.com which will get you into games for all four days of the tournament. General admission tickets will be $10 and can be purchased at the box office located at the front of Raider Arena before the game.

Games will also be livestreamed on emeraldcoastTV.com